Much like "karma points" and "mod points" used in other online communities, Reputation is one way to gauge at a glance how much credibility to give the author of a post. The Reputation system is an informal way for members of the forum to reward (or penalize) fellow members for informative, helpful, articulate, or even simply entertaining (or not) posts. A user with a high Reputation is someone you're more likely to learn something from. A user with a low Reputation is someone you might simply want to ignore. User reputations are shown on each post as green (or red) squares in the upper right corner, but are also displayed in the exact number just above the squares. The more squares, the higher the reputation. The same squares can be found in each user's Public Profile.

How do I give reputation points?

Every post has a "scale" Reputation icon in the postbit:
If a member has posted something you found particularly insightful, you can click the Reputation icon and indicate that you approve of the post. (If the post was unhelpful, you can click the Reputation icon and indicate that you disapprove.) You can also include a comment if you like.

Are there limits on the amount of rep I can give?

There are quite a few limits in place to prevent minor abuse of the reputation system. Obviously there cannot be a flawless system, but these limits try to curb any intentional abuse. You must have a minimum of 50 post and 10 reputation points in order for your reputation to count on other people. Until you meet those requirements, your reputation will show up as grey dots. Everybody is limited to giving out 10 reputations per 24-hour time period; you cannot give the same person reputation until you have given reputation to 20 other people. This prevents friends from giving 20 reputations to the same person every day.

How do I see reputation given to me?

If you go into your User CP (linked at the top of every page) you can see a list of the past 15 reputation points you have received. A red dot beside the comment means you've received negative rep feedback and a green dot means you've received positive rep feedback.

How do I find out my current rep score?

In your User CP, in the upper right, you can see what your current reputation score is. Also, to find the reputation points given for a particular post just click the reputation icon on your post, a window will pop up with your current score for that individual post.

What do the coloured bars represent?

You get awarded 1 reputation bar for every 100 reputation points received until you reach a reputation of 500. Afterwards 200 points are needed to get an additional bar. That means after reaching 1500 reputation points no more bars are added. The rep bars are displayed in each of your forum posts, underneath your avatar and username. Additionally the plain number of your reputation pints is being displayed with each of your posts.

What factors influence my reputation power?

When a new user first starts out, their reputation does not count. There are a few factors that determine when their reputation should start counting. Some of those factors are the number of posts, the number of days they have been registered, and the number of reputation points that have been given to them.The list below shows how these factors are determined:

-For every 365 number of days, users gain 1 point of reputation-altering power.
-For every 1000 posts users gain 1 point of reputation-altering power.
-For every 100 points of rep users gain 1 point of reputation-altering power.
-Users must have a minimum of 50 post before their rep hits count on others.
-Users must have a minimum rep of 10 before their rep hits count on others.

Your reputation power is displayed with each of your posts.

What is the difference between "thanks" and reputation?

See the "thanks" system as a public reputation given. However, "thanks" given by users for a posts are rewarded with only one reputation point unlike a regular reputation given where you receive the full reputation power and the limits for reputation are in effect.